Report Card: Grading the San Francisco 49ers’ epic 20-17 loss to Baltimore

It took last-second field goal from 49 yards, in the wind and rain, from Ravens kicker Justin Tucker to give Baltimore a thrilling, 20-17 victory over the 49ers.

Here’s our report card grading San Francisco’s performance.

Passing offense: B-

In bad conditions, Jimmy Garoppolo’s third pass attempt was a 33-yard touchdown on a risky fourth-down throw to rookie Deebo Samuel, who leaped over cornerback Marcus Peters to haul in it to cap an impressive opening series. Garoppolo was sacked and stripped later in the first quarter that led to a Baltimore touchdown, a few weeks after three 49ers turnovers resulted in 21 points during the loss the Seahawks. Garoppolo completed his passes at a strong rate (71 percent) before finishing with 165 yards and a 110.2 passer rating. His fumble proved critical, though he didn’t throw an interception.

Rushing offense: B+

Raheem Mostert’s 40-yard touchdown, his third of the season, tied it at 14 in the second quarter and gave San Francisco 83 rushing yards in the 21 minutes of game time. Mostert’s 16-yard run at the end of the first half set a new career high. He finished with 146 yards on 19 carries as Tevin Coleman was largely ineffective with 6 yards on five runs. Matt Breida missed his third straight game with an ankle injury.

Passing defense: B+

Linebacker Fred Warner had a big pass breakup against speedy receiver Marquise Brown on a second-and-10, led to a third-down incompletion and a punt on the Ravens first series. Warner had another big breakup on a fourth down play early in the fourth quarter. The Ravens’ second score was set up by a crucial, albeit questionable, penalty on a late hit from Azeez Al-Shaair that negated a long field goal attempt and instead set up Jackson’s 1-yard rushing score. Jackson finished 14 of 24 (61 percent) and 105 yards. It was a strong defensive performance against the league’s top scoring outfit.

Rushing defense: C

The Ravens, far and away the best rushing team in the NFL, averaged 6.4 yards per carry during the first quarter. In the third, Second-year pro Marcell Harris, moments after replacing Jaquiski Tartt (ribs), ripped the ball away from Jackson on a long run at San Francisco’s 17-yard line potentially taking points away from the home team. Baltimore got a first down one of the biggest runs of the game – and third-and-1 inside the two-minute warning – after the 49ers burned their final timeout. Baltimore averaged 4.7 yards on 38 carries, netting 178 yards on the ground overall.

Special teams: B-

Robbie Gould, in his first action since Oct. 31, had his first field goal attempt blocked at the end of the first half by Marlon Humphrey. Gould tied it at 17 by making a 32-yarder in the third quarter following Harris’ takeaway. Gould’s miss at the end of halftime proved critical in the three-point loss.

Coaching: C

Shanahan’s decision on the first series to go for a deep pass on fourth down, leading to Samuels’ touchdown, was gutsy, and helped set the tone for his team. But he also decided to let 41 seconds run off the clock at the end of the first half before San Francisco settled for Gould’s long field goal that was blocked before halftime. The team entered halftime with a timeout in its pocket. And the 49ers were forced to burn through their timeouts earlier than they wanted in the fourth quarter ahead of Baltimore’s game-winning kick.

This story was originally published December 1, 2019 at 1:10 PM.